Volcist Revolt
*20 000 men (Pre-defections) *2 000 men (Post-defections)|forces2 = *8 000 men (Post-defections)|forces3 = *30 000 men (Pre-defections) *40 000 men (Post-defections)|casual1 = 13 men killed and wounded|casual2 = 77 men killed and wounded|casual3 = 1 000 men killed and wounded 25 000 men captured|prev = Audois Revolution|next = Vilidynan Revolution}}The Volcist Revolt was a major rebellion and attempted coup d'état that took place in the Kingdom of Varland in the year 610 K.C. Despite officially only beginning on the 7th of May, the revolt in fact had been brewing for months, since the appointment of Princess Jayne Vårtorn-Korpparit as Regent due to the illness of King Karolus XI. Background Audois Revolution Though there had been a brewing Volcist movement throughout the Skanoric kingdoms for decades, it had been heavily galvanised into action by the Audois Revolution that followed the Kingdom of Audeux losing outside support following the First War. The results of the Audois revolution soon spread throughout the rest of Vildskanor. The new government of Audeux itself soon invaded both the Holy Vilidynan Empire and Tol Nuit in an attempt to 'spread the ideals of the revolution', while at the same time sympathisers and covert agents were sent to infiltrate the Skanoric kingdoms that were further afield. Regency of Princess Jayne Meanwhile, in the Kingdom of Varland, the wasting sickness that had afflicted King Karolus XI had by February 610 K.C forced him to appointed his daughter and heir Jayne Vårtorn-Korpparit as regent. This was notably despite the fact that Princess Jayne was a major opponent to the more autocratic policies of her father and the past monarchs, instead wishing to implement a more democratic system as had been used by the Törnudine city-states before the Varlandic unification. During the regency, Jayne began to implement her new policies, delegating the majority of her powers to the Riksdag and reforming the system of elections for the lower houses of the Varlandic parliament. However, she was faced with a major issue in the form of the ruling parties of that same institution, as the long period of autocratic rule had solidified the supremacy of the pro-monarchist Hats faction which, although unable to maintain a majority in the Riksdag without the support of the regency, was still able to effectively block any legislation attempted by Jayne's favoured Caps faction, who were the pro-democratic and mercantile faction. As a result, the Princess-Regent chose to lead the Caps into an alliance with the newly formed Bonnets, a radical Volcist party that had been formed by Audois sympathisers located in the kingdom, to pass legislation. The leader of this party was the former noble Johann Reinhold, who had been pardoned by Jayne after having spent years in banishment following his attempts to reclaim land from King Karolus. Unfortunately, however, Reinhold now served a new master, as during his time in exile, he had called out to the abyss for support, and it had answered. Death of King Karolus XI Finally, on the 5th of April, 610 K.C, King Karolus XI passed away in his sleep as a result of his illness. Following his death, an autopsy found that his entire abdominal cavity had been eaten away by the Black Plague and thus his body, instead of lying in state, was placed under guard while the priesthood decontaminated it. It was thus during this time of discontent that the members of the Bonnets faction planned their next move. Realising that even the Princess-Regent would never allow his master's more radical plans, Reinhold secretly formed an army of Audois expeditionaries and dissatisfied Thyrnlanders, while at the same time slowly bending the Riksdag to his rule, until, on the night of the 6th of May, he was finally prepared for his master strike. Events of the 7th of May Proclamation at the Riksdag Abolition of the Monarchy At approximately 9:30 AM on May 7th, Johann Reinhold, now the Lord High Chancellor of Varland, called an emergency meeting of the Riksdag. At this meeting, Reinhold gave an impassioned speech on how, despite the fact that the current Princess-Regent was in favour of reforms, there would always be corruption and inequality in the monarchist system and that the gods had shown with the death of King Karolus that the entire system should be destroyed, to be replaced by an 'elective of people's councils'. Though this speech was met with cheers from the Bonnets faction members, it was also met with disgust by the Hats and more liberal members of the Caps, and thus Reinhold's next move, a bill to abolish the monarchy, was barely passed by the combined Riksdag. But passed it was, and Reinhold's next proclamations swiftly followed; all who voted against the bill were decried as traitors, the entirety of the Varlandic Army was ordered to disband, and the gates of Rosholm were to be opened to the new 'revolutionary army', which would restore order within the city and pave the way for the Kingdom's transformation into a Volcist republic. Arrest of the Princess-Regent At the same time as he gave his other proclamations, Reinhold also secretly put his plans to deal with the royal family in place. Loyal troops from the Volcist Revolutionary Army who had already infiltrated the city were sent to Rosen Kronor with orders to capture the entirety of the royal family (aside from Princess Eleanora, who was at the time visiting family in Elsinore) and, additionally, set fire to the royal castle itself, to distract the royal guard from their duties. Initially, this plan went off perfectly, with the Princess-Regent soon being arrested and convinced not to resist due to Volcist claims that they already had her daughter in custody. Burning of Rosen Kronor Attempted Arrest of Prince Karolus Meanwhile, at approximately 10:00 AM, the Volcist troops also moved to arrest Prince Karolus. However, upon arriving at his study, they found the daughter of the Princess-Regent, Lady Vannesyra, was also present and thus decided to take both into custody and attempted to disguise themselves as Trabant Gardes. Unfortunately, the Prince himself became suspicious due to the demeanour and damaged uniforms of the Volcists and, when they attempted to take Lady Vannesyra as a hostage, he quickly disposed of the pair of them via shooting the first and breaking the neck of the second. Following this he quickly made his way to the barracks of the Trabants, meeting with Lieutenant Colonel Karl Gustav Rehnskiöld and discovering both the Volcist take-over of most of the city, along with the fact that the outer areas of Rosen Kronor were now on fire. The Trabant Garde Regroup Once Rehnskiöld had briefed him on the situation, Prince Karolus immediately took charge of the garrison forces still in the castle, which number around 2 400 men (approximately 40% of the total Trabant forces in the city). Realising that his forces both couldn't defend the castle while the fire still raged and also couldn't fight the fire while under assault from the Volcist forces, Karolus instead ordered his forces to withdraw, falling back to the crypts located underneath Nasdrassil. From this position the Trabants fortified and planned their next move, although at the time their chances of success were minimal, as the Volcists both outnumbered them over 16 to 1 and controlled most of the city. Reclamation of the City Dwarven Defection Although the position of the Trabants was grim, they were soon greeted to a surprise advantage, as a number of dwarven representatives from Dvengrholmen arrived to negotiate with Prince Karolus. Though the dwarven clans of the Kingdom had been heavily associated with the Caps faction and Jayne's reforms, they were also in favour of the monarchical regime and had been opposed to any form of alliance with the Bonnets faction. Thus they made the Prince an offer, if he respected the non-radical policies implemented by the Caps and agreed to give all those who'd been involved in the revolt a fair trial, the dwarven clans would lend them his support. Karolus happily accepted these requests and thus gained the allegiance of the dwarves, who sent messengers through the lower tunnels of the city to link up with the other royalist forces. When these messengers returned to the crypts, they brought good news. As it turned out, although there were over 40 000 Volcist forces in the city, these forces were ill-equipped, as they had failed to captured the major armouries at Rosen Kronor and the Tapperhet Kasern, the later of which still remained under the control of royalist forces commanded by Lady Fleur Napoleon de Nuit. Additionally, the majority of the city's populace had retreated to their homes when the revolt had started, instead of joining with the Volcists as Reinhold seemed to have expected. Thus Karolus gave the order for the majority of his forces to surround and deal with the main group of Volcists attacking Tapperhet, while he and the Life Companies of the Trabant Garde, the Nifljóns and the Gula Regiment moved to retake the Riksdag. A Whiff of Grapeshot Meanwhile, at the Tapperhet Kasern, Lady Fleur had devised a far more brutal plan to retake the area, which she kept from Karolus until it had been carried out. As the main force at the gates of the Tapperhet consisted of the local militia and civilians who had been caught in the crossfire, it was Karolus' wish that they be convinced to stand down, while Fleur had instead decided that a show of force was needed to quiet the revolt. Thus, she had the entirety of the Trabant Garde's artillery brigade, a total of 54 field cannons and 18 howitzers, brought out of storage. While the howitzers were deemed to be worse than useless in the confines of the city, the field cannons were positioned around the main entrances to the square, while the forces of the Varlandic Army positioned themselves in front of them, intending to draw the Volcists into their line of fire. Said plan was a success, with the mix of Volcists and militiamen attacking what appeared to be thin lines of troops, only to be scythed down by cannon fire. Even once they retreated back to a nearby square, Fleurs forces continued their assault, only ceasing once several hundred rebels were dead and the rest had surrendered. Retaking of the Riksdag The final action of the day took place at approximately midday, with the forces of Prince Karolus, numbering approximately 300 cavalry and 900 infantry, mustered at the entrance to the bridge leading to the Riksdag Islet. Following the Volcist refusal of the Prince's order to stand down and hand over both the Princess-Regent and Chancellor Reinhold, Karolus led his cavalry in a charge across the bridge, while Rehnskiöld brought the infantry up in support. This charge quickly saw the isolated defenders of the Riksdag overwhelmed and, once the building itself was stormed by the infantry, Reinhold's capture. Following this, the Volcist chancellor was forced to order his troops to stand down, which saw the majority of the Audois forces surrender, while a significant portion of the native Varlanders retreated from the city and into the hinterland around it.Category:Events Category:Kingdom of Varland Category:Battles